Family Conflict

"Julie,isn't it about time you help your mother with the kegs like you promised?" Joshua asked as he leaned against the doorframe leading to her bedroom.
"Stepmother..." Julie muttered under her breath as she turned from the window to face him.

"What?" Joshua shot back sternly as he stepped into the room.

"Nothing...I'll go help Emily with the kegs. All better, right?"

"We are not having this argument again. You are a part of this family and I expect you to do as you are told." he says as he bars the doorway. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure. I guess." Julie says quietly as she waits for him to move his arm so she can leave.

"No. Try again." Joshua says as he does his best to hold in his temper.

"What do you want from me?" she asks as she shrinks away from him a little. "Fine...I'll go help...mother with the potion kegs like you said. Okay?" Julie spoke timidly while looking down at his feet.
With a muted grunt, Joshua dropped his arm and watched as Julie left the room and walked down the short hallway to the front door. Julie gave a sideways glance toward Joshua as she opened the door and stepped outside. Joshua let out a loud sigh as he went to the pantry to take a quick hit of his strongest whisky. After taking a couple of gulps, he pushed the cork back into the half-empty bottle and headed toward the door.

Emily looked out the workshop window and saw Julie coming toward the workshop and tried to put on her best face. When Emily heard the latch to the door click, she acted busy and that she didn't hear her come in. "Oh, hi Julie. How are you?" Emily said in her sweetest voice.

"Please don't. I am here to help you load the kegs into the wagon." Julie spouted rudely as she lifts the first keg. "Then I can go hunting the rest of the afternoon."

"Did your father say you could go? After this delivery, I could use your help with supper. We'll be butchering a boar and I can't pick it up by myself." Emily said as she continued to grind the last of the dried mandrake.

"But the afternoons are my free times." Julie said in protest as the door to the workshop swung open abruptly. This caused both Julie and Emily to be a bit startled. Emily composes herself and smiles at Joshua as she finishes topping off the keg and hammering the cork stopper into place. Julie quickly turns and picks up a full keg and heaves it up onto the wagon bed.

"Is Julie helping or just standing there talking?" he asked while staring straight at Julie.

"I'm helping. See?" she grunts as she cradles another keg onto the wagon bed.

"She is helping, Jo. I promise." Emily says as she walks the keg over from the alchemists table. "You know you could help, too." Emily says while showing Joshua a warm smile. "I've seen you lift three at one time before."
"I'll help in a moment. Julie, I want you to stay close to the house today. Your mother will need help with supper and I want you to help me with hanging meat in the smokehouse later."

"What?? That's not fair! You said I can have the afternoons to myself if I get all my work done!" Julie yelled angrily while glaring at her dad. Joshua stepped inside the workshop and slammed the door behind him.

"You listen here, girl! I have had it with your disrespect and back-talking! Your mother and I have done nothing but coddle you, and this is what we get? You WILL help load the kegs! You WILL help with supper and you WILL help with the smokehouse tonight! Do you understand me??" Joshua seethes through clinched teeth.

"Emily's not my mother! My mother died! Remember??" Julie screamed out loud while balling her fists in anger. This sent Joshua into a blind rage. Joshua lifted his hand and slapped Julie hard across the face which sent her stumbling into the wall. She held her face and started sobbing.

"Joshua! No! Stop, Joshua! That's enough!"

Emily quickly gets in between the two and hugs him to keep him away from Julie who is still stunned and covering her jaw with her left hand.

"Julie. Go in the house and get cleaned up. Stay in your room. We'll talk later." Emily says quietly while fighting back tears welling up in her eyes.

Julie struggles to her feet and tries to shake off the dizziness, she runs to the door and throws it open. She quickly makes her way across the yard and into the house. Slamming the bedroom door behind her, Julie throws herself across the bed and curls up in a fetal position. About an hour later she could hear the front door close and lock. There would be no supper tonight. Not that that it mattered. She probably couldn't chew anything anyway. After a while, Julie was able to relax enough to fall asleep while the sun still peered through her bedroom window.

As the last rays of sunlight give way to a darkening eastern sky, Julie slowly awoke from a restless sleep. Lying still, she listened for any movement in the house outside her door. Quietly lifting her torso up off the bed, she looked intently at the door as if at any moment her father would burst in. Julie was glad to only hear the slight rustle of wind in the trees and crickets just outside of her window.
After a few moments of listening in silence, Julie slowly crawled off the bed and crept toward the door. Taking extra care to not make a sound, she pulled on the handle just enough to peek out into the hall toward her fathers bedroom. No one in the hallway, but she could see the glow of a candle shining from under his door.

"They're awake..." Julie thought to herself as she cautiously eased the door closed. Sitting back on her bed, she started to weigh her options as she rubbed her still-swollen jaw. Tears started to well up in her eyes as memories started to flood her mind. For a couple of minutes Julie quietly wept as she covered her face; trying her best not to make any sounds her father would hear. After wiping her swollen eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, Julie stood up and went to the closet and slid open the door. Grabbing up the satchel that she had already packed for the afternoon hunting trip, she hoists the leather strap over her right shoulder and looks over at the window.

"I'm outta here." Julie mutters defiantly as she reaches up and unlocks the window latch. "Don't creak..." she pleads with the rusted hinges. As easy as she can, Julie pushes the window wide open and climbs out onto the ledge. After a short hop down to the ground, she pauses for a moment to scan the tree line for the quickest escape. "Over the fence is a path into the woods." she recalls. No longer concerned with stealth, Julie starts to run as fast as she can toward the fence. Placing both hands on the railing, she throws herself over; almost falling face-first into the ground. She gets her feet back under her and makes a mad dash down the winding path that would lead to a sandy shore.

Julie started to laugh out loud as she sprinted down the path as this startled a couple of bucks that were bedded down for the night. As she approached the shore, Julie turned left into the forest and made a two-mile hike to a campsite she has used before. "Good! The lean-to is still here!" she breathlessly gasped as she slumped to the ground in front of the dead campfire. Catching her breath, she opened up her satchel and pulled out a cask of water and a ration of salted pork. Gulping down most of the contents of the cask, she set it aside and ate a day's food ration in a couple of minutes. Julie didn't care. She knew she could get more. She was just glad to be away from everything. To be on her own. To get to make her own decisions...

Julie pulled out a small blanket and spread it out inside the lean-to. Tossing the satchel to one side, she crawled under the lean-to and fell asleep until daybreak.

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